Case Western Reserve University will launch the first phases of its new Student Information System in February as part of student registration for the fall 2008 semester.

Faculty and students will be able to view and search the online summer and fall schedule of classes beginning in mid-February, and register for classes in the new system in March.

Campus-wide information sessions to demonstrate the new Student Information System will take place from 12:45-1:45 p.m. February 1 for faculty and staff only and from 12:45-1:45 p.m. February 8 for students. Both sessions will be conducted in Strosacker Auditorium.

All faculty and students, as well as staff who are likely to work with the system on a regular basis, are strongly encouraged to attend the appropriate session.

For more information, visit the Student Information System Web site or send e-mail to the department.

Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration

MLK Celebration Concludes with Song, Skits, Sports

Case Western Reserve University's weeklong celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. culminates Friday, January 25, with a lecture featuring song and a discussion prompted by skits -- all in the memory of the civil rights activist.

Social work school alumna Darlene Grant, the 2006 National Association of Social Workers Social Worker of the Year, presents a lecture with song about breaking the cycle of violence at noon January 25 in room 1413 of the Wolstein Research Building. The speaker is sponsored by the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, the Mandel Council for Student Community Leadership, the Black Student Association and the Mandel School Alumni Board.

Also at noon, January 25, the Kelvin Smith Library will host "Martin Luther King Jr., A Historical Perspective," a brown bag showing of a documentary on King that includes photos and rare footage and explores his civil rights activist ideas and accomplishments.

From 12:30-2 p.m. that same day in the Excelsior Ballroom of Thwing Center, the university's Center for Civic Engagement and Learning will present the spring service fair, "Everybody Can Be Great Because Everybody Can Serve," in honor of King. Members of the university community can learn how to get involved with local non-profits, national programs, post-grad opportunities and student organizations.

Also at 12:30 p.m. in the Dorothy M. Pijan Atrium of Thwing, the university's Office of Educational Enhancement Programs will sponsor "Drama, Diversity and Dialogue," a discussion -- prompted by student skits -- on topics relating to issues of social justice and personal values. The program ends at 1:45 p.m.

Case Western Reserve's physical education and athletics department also will celebrate King with a special exhibit during the Spartans' basketball doubleheader on January 25. The women's team takes on Carnegie Mellon University at 6 p.m. followed by the men's team vs. Carnegie Mellon at 9 p.m. in the Veale Center. The Office of the Provost will host a free pizza party between games.

Iraqi Trial Judges Make First Public Appearance Abroad to Speak at School of Law January 29

Case Western Reserve University's School of Law will host a live presentation by five Iraqi High Tribunal judges on January 29. The free, public event will be held in the School of Law's Moot Courtroom (A59) at 4 p.m.

Six months ago, the Iraqi High Tribunal convicted "Chemical Ali" (Ali Hassan al-Majid) and five other military leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime of international crimes related to their roles in a three-year crackdown of northern Iraqi Kurds known as the Anfal campaign. The Tribunal's judgment marks one of the only times in history individuals have been convicted of genocide.

Through translators, the judges and other officers of the Iraqi High Tribunal will be on campus to discuss the challenges faced, the precedent that their historic judgment set and the question of fairness in the proceedings. This will mark the judges' first public appearance outside of Iraq. Read more.

Campus News

University Health Service is offering walk-in influenza vaccines for students, faculty and staff from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., January 29 and 31 at the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women conference room, Thwing Center, Room 303. Bring Case identification card and $10 payable in cash or check. For more information, call 368-4539.

For Faculty & Staff

The School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs seeks nominations for the 2008 Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Awards, sponsored by the Arnold P. Gold Foundation. The award recognizes the value of humanism in the delivery of care to patients and their families. The foundation wishes to honor one graduating medical student and one faculty member for exemplifying outstanding humanism in medicine, along with scientific excellence by awarding each with a $1,000 prize. To receive a nomination form, send e-mail to Celena Howard-Townsend, or call 368-2212. Nominations are due by March 3 to the School of Medicine Office of Student Affairs, Room E421, or via fax to 368-8597.

For Students

The university's radio station, WRUW 91.FM, will be holding information sessions at 1 p.m. January 27 and at 7 p.m., January 28, both dates in Mather Memorial, Room 225 for students interested in becoming DJs and playing music on air.

Undergraduates interested in living together under the common theme of "Innovation and Entrepreneurship" are invited to contact via e-mail Ed Caner from the Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Program, or Gary Wnek from The Institute of Management and Engineering. An application for special interest housing will be drafted in early March, with Caner and Wnek as faculty advisers.

Upcoming Career Center events: Bring résumés, cover letters, and other professional correspondence to the Résumé Emergency Roomfrom 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., January 25 at the Career Center, Sears 206. Career Center staff will review items and offer recommendations for writing effective documents. From 5-6 p.m., January 28 in Nord Hall, Room 400, learn the best
Job Search Strategies: Where the jobs are, how to find them, and when to start looking.

Events

The Center for Civic Engagement & Learning (CCEL) sponsors students who travel to the Gulf Region during Alternative Spring Break to help with the continuing Hurricane Katrina restoration efforts.
To raise funds for this year's trip, CCEL -- in partnership with the university's Office of Alumni Relations, the Center for Community Partnerships and Deuteronomy 8:3 Café -- will present the Ohio premiere of Desert Bayou, a documentary about the lives of displaced residents, at 4 p.m., January 27 in Strosacker Auditorium. Tickets: $5 for students with college ID, seniors and ages 18 and under; $7 general admission.

The Friday Public Affairs Discussion Group will welcome Case Western Reserve's Justin Buchler, assistant professor of political science and Joseph White, Luxenberg Family Professor of Public Policy, political science chair and director of the Center for Policy Studies, on the topic of "Can it Get More Fun Than This? The Presidential Nomination Races." Discussion is from 12:30-1:30 p.m., January 25 in the Inamori Center in Crawford Hall, Room 9. Free.

Case in the News

Crain's Cleveland Business, January 21, 2008 (subscription required)
The budget for the National Institutes of Health is barely budging, which means local research institutions that count on NIH money to support their research activities will find competition nationwide for those federal dollars more intense than ever. Eric Cottington, associate vice president for research at Case Western Reserve University, comments.

The Free Times, January 23, 2008
After years of discussion and frustration with the increasingly dilapidated condition of stores on its side of the Cedar Center shopping strip, the city of South Euclid has opted to invoke eminent domain. The city plans to sell the property to the Coral Co., a local development firm that will raze the shopping center. Case Western Reserve University law professor Melvyn Durchslag comments.

BusinessWeek, January 23, 2008
Following up on the growing momentum from his new book on entrepreneurship, Scott Shane, the A. Malachi Mixon III Professor of Entrepreneurial Studies at Case Western Reserve University, answers a few questions for BusinessWeek.

Seattle Post Intelligencer, January 22, 2008 Anu Garg has gained worldwide fame as the Wordsmith, writing a scholarly daily e-mail in which he discusses a word and its origins. Garg, who earned a master's degree in computer science from Case Western Reserve, where he began A.Word.A.Day as a graduate student, offers insight on several food word origins.

Higher Ed News

USA TODAY, January 24, 2008
The number of colleges and universities boasting endowments of $1 billion or more climbed by 14 last year to a record 76, nearly doubling the number of such schools five years ago.